Opportunities for everyone to learn and grow.
The Green Party will support student success by overhauling tertiary education.
We all benefit when somebody takes on tertiary study, contributing original thought and their skills to our communities, hapori (community), country and the world.
Unfortunately, successive governments have forced universities and polytechs to make deep cuts to the courses and services students need to succeed.
At the same time, they have normalised student poverty, leaving students struggling to pay the rent and eat a decent meal.
Choosing to study shouldn’t be a commitment to years of stress and hardship. Tertiary education should be the springboard into a meaningful career and the expansion of human knowledge.
The Green Party will overhaul the tertiary education sector, so our institutions are sustainable and operate in the public good.
That means a tertiary education system where it’s affordable to study, students get the support they need to succeed, and staff have good pay and working conditions so that everyone can benefit from a world-class tertiary education system.
We can ensure that we have a thriving tertiary sector that looks after students, staff and the communities they serve – because tertiary education should be for everyone.
Our plan
- Support students with a universal student income, including at postgraduate level, and ensure courses that require work placements pay students at least the living wage.
- Overhaul funding for the tertiary sector to ensure it delivers rigorous research, a wide range of course options, quality teaching, comprehensive student services, decent pay and conditions for staff, and full participation of disabled students.
- Empower polytechnics with adequate funding and strong local control to meet workforce and community needs, and protect courses, campuses and staff from cuts.
- Expand free apprenticeship programmes, reduce student loan repayments and work towards fees-free tertiary education and a student debt write-off.
- Ensure all tertiary institutes uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi and deliver equitable outcomes for ākonga Māori (Māori students). Expand the Māori and Pasifika Trades Training programme, and fully resource Whare Wānanga to increase opportunities for kaupapa Māori education.
- Return to default student union membership and develop a governance model for tertiary organisations in which staff, students, communities and tangata whenua govern together.